LOS ANGELES — The ASU men's basketball team finished its road trip at Galen Center hoping to salvage a three-game road trip that's seen the squad outclassed by two of the nation's elite teams.
Instead, the Sun Devils (9-11, 2-5 Pac-12) head back to Tempe saddled with a 82-79 loss to USC and the monkey placed firmly on their backs.
Once again, ASU allowed an opponent to jump ahead to an early lead, as the Trojans leaned on the 3-point shooting of junior guards Jordan McLaughlin and Elijah Stewart — who finished with 18 and 29 points, respectively — to take and extend a double-digit lead in the first half.
Seven 3s tonight ties a career high for @Lou_weezy_ana! #ItTakesATeam pic.twitter.com/HUYG8gsqz9
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 23, 2017
To combat the perimeter threat USC presented, Hurley kept his starting unit in for over 30 minutes each, letting them fight through fatigue to give ASU its best chance at winning.
"The game presented that for us because of how USC was playing," Hurley said. "They also play smaller ... it presented an opportunity for us to do that. I wanted those guys on the floor that whole second half."
Just three non-starter Sun Devils played in the game — freshmen forwards Ramon Vila and Jethro Tshisumpa and junior guard Austin Witherill — but none attempted a shot, leaving the scoring up to the starting five.
The only substitution ASU made in the second half was when senior forward Obinna Oleka picked up his third foul and was replaced by Vila for four minutes.
After the Trojans went up 10 in the first half, the lead fluctuated, but the Sun Devils could never regain an advantage, and once a one-point deficit ballooned to 14 with 3:13 left, the game seemed all but over.
But ASU had a different plan.
The Sun Devils found a new life and went on a 12-1 run to cut the Trojan lead to three points and had the ball with 37 seconds on the clock.
The comeback would come up short, as senior forward Torian Graham missed two shots and junior guard Shannon Evans air-balled a 3 at the buzzer to send the home crowd home happy.
For Oleka — who finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds — the loss stings, especially with how closely ASU climbed to tying or winning the game.
"When you fight real hard to get back and just to fall short," Oleka said. "Heartbreaking."
After ASU's loss to UCLA Thursday, Hurley said he didn't think his team "sustained the effort" for the full game, but with the push late, he's seeing the results he was hoping for.
"I couldn't really ask for anything more from the group overall tonight," Hurley said. "On the road, good team .... We made a lot of plays, gave ourselves a chance to win ... didn't happen tonight, but respect how we fought and competed."
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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